I was so, so in for it. I knew I deserved every speck of my punishment—and I hadn't even told Firestar about what happened with Flamepaw, how I'd so willingly talked to an enemy apprentice—but I didn't think StarClan would allow it.

Firestar wants me to work with Jaypaw.

It was Leafpool's idea. I lie in the moss, staring up at the patches of icy moonlight piercing the brambles that weave to form the roof of our den, replaying the scene over and over in my mind.

"She smells like ShadowClan," Leafpool mewed, her tail flicking against my haunches for me to approach Firestar. I do so with a hesitant bow, waiting for Leafpool to continue her story. "She ran out on me a little after Sunhigh. She, Jaypaw, and I were having a little talk."

Firestar's rusty fur glows in the pale moonlight, and his breath shrouds his face in a tiny silver mist. "Go on, Leafpool," he said. "Lilypaw, come sit here." He beckons for me to sit on one side of the den. I press my fur against the cold stone wall, shivering. I'm really in for it!

"She won't tell me why, though," Leafpool continued. "Seems a bit reluctant. Maybe you wouldn't mind telling the truth to Firestar, Lilypaw?" she added wryly, with a flash of her amber eyes.

Disappointment glowed in Firestar's emerald eyes, and it makes me feel even worse. It wasn't my fault, for StarClan's sake! I felt like yowling out, and I toyed, momentarily, with the idea of carrying out the action. It wasn't like I was spying, or meeting an enemy warrior to tell them we're planning on attacking RiverClan, or something…

"I…I…" I stammered, searching for the proper words. Leafpool cleared her throat, and Firestar's ears twitch.

"Lilypaw, ThunderClan doesn't have time for an apprentice who dawdles in other Clan's territory without a reason," he reminded me gently, smoothing his tail over my bristling spine.

Anger surged through my heart, sending a prickly warmth through my paws like concentrated sunlight. I bit my tongue in an attempt to bite back a sharp remark. "I know that!" I growled. "And I'm not dawdling in ShadowClan's territory! I was just…"

Drawing his tongue over one ginger-brown paw, Firestar narrowed his eyes. "Lilypaw, you smell like ShadowClan. What've you been up to?"

"That's what I want to know," Leafpool added. I thought I detected a flinty spark of fear glowing in her amber eyes for a moment, and I thought I saw Firestar exchange a glance with Leafpool. "Lilypaw…?

I curled up my tail. "Well…I just ran," I said finally. "I didn't realize I was in ShadowClan territory until I was in it…and then I just…" I thought about telling Firestar about Flamepaw, but I decided against it. "Then I just came back, and Leafpool brought me in here." At least part of it's the truth, I consoled myself.

Leafpool closed her eyes, looking exhausted, and Firestar looked at me with a deep authority glowing in his emerald eyes. "Lilypaw, you shouldn't have done it. As an apprentice, you are sworn to learn the Warrior Code from Thornclaw, and crossing territory out of anger is doing anything but."

I looked down, for once unable to meet Firestar's eyes. "I'm sorry, Firestar," I murmured, my voice nearly inaudible against the loud gusts of the wind that whipped the snow outside into a white whirl.

"What are we to do with you?" Firestar sighed. "For a cat who thinks it's alright to go wherever they please, maybe it'd be good to spend a few days in camp, helping Leafpool and the elders."

I usually don't like elder duties, but the words helping Leafpool turns my blood to ice. The look in Leafpool's eyes sharpened my fear. She's going to try and talk me into an alliance with Jaypaw, I thought frantically. I just know it.

"It's a good idea, Firestar," Leafpool agreed, cleaning her white chest fur with a few quick licks. "Jaypaw and I could use some help now that the cold is setting in."

"The cold has set in," I moaned. "Please, Firestar. I understand. It was wrong. I'll train extra-hard with Thornclaw, please?"

A stern glimmer flashed through the ThunderClan leader's eyes. "No, Lilypaw," he purred. "You'll train with Leafpool and Jaypaw for a while, if they need the help."

I shot a defiant glance at Leafpool, anger and resentment mixed together in my blue eyes. "For how long?" I asked. The question was out before I could force it back through my jaws.

"For as long as I say it is," Firestar said. The glow was gone from his eyes and he looked fiercely at me. "Go back to your den, Lilypaw—your sentence starts tomorrow."

The scene replays in my mind over and over again, filling my paws with a restless energy and my head with a relentless buzz. I roll over, sighing loudly enough to ruffle Honeypaw's fur. She looks up, her green eyes glowing.

"Honestly, Lilypaw, could you let the rest of us alone?" she mewed, her voice heavy with sleep. "You've been rolling around like a tortured fox all night." She sighed, murmuring something inaudible, before falling back asleep.

I spent the next few moments tense, careful not to make any noise. The camp feels silent, and I can hear everything—the soft hooting of an owl somewhere far away in the forest, the soft whistle of the icy wind blowing snow through the oak trees, and the soft crackling of leaves as prey scutters through them. My legs itch with the desire to run, run far away again, but I remember how far that took me. I shake my head and get up, picking my way through the moonglow-outlined figures of my sleeping denmates.

I sweep away the snow with a quick motion of my tail, sitting and standing watch over the camp. Tonight, there is no guard standing watch at the prickly mouth of the camp. I can see why, I think grimly, as the cold turns my limbs to stone. What kind of self-respecting Clan would attack us in this weather?

Still sleepless, but no longer feeling antsy, I creep back into the den and fall asleep.

A dank scent trickles into my nostrils, and I wake up with a jolt. Surrounding me are gigantic trees, stretching up into the blackness. I can't see their upmost branches, but they block out the sky. The light seems to come from the tree trunks instead, and the creepy fungus that creeps up around them.

Where am I? I wonder as I pad through the forest. Grasses surround me, narrowing the hard-packed dirt into a single path, and the shadows of seemingly-prey vanish the moment I turn to look at them. It's so creepy here.

"Tigerstar!" A soft, familiar voice slices through the silence. I crouch, painfully aware that wherever I move, the dirt path seems to follow. I'm hiding out in the open, I think guiltily. Who is that?

A golden-brown tabby pelt emerges from seemingly nowhere, ruffled, with amber eyes sparkling. Lionpaw! I almost gasp out, before another newcomer emerges.

This cat is obviously a Warrior, though not one I've met—his shoulders are broader than Tigerstars, and he has dark tabby fur, heroically battle-scarred. Lionpaw doesn't seem as frightened as I am of this new cat—he mews a soft greeting and sits in front of him, as a deputy would as they took orders from their leader.

I sift through my clouded mind, wondering whether to greet Lionpaw and the dark warrior or to run away. My paws feel rooted to the ground, and I strain my ears to listen to them. The funny thing is, I don't think they can see me. They are many fox-lengths away from me, and they seem so enticed with their conversation as to not even notice the ThunderClan apprentice listening in on them.

"Lionpaw! Training hard to be a Warrior, I suspect?" the broad-shouldered cat purrs silkily.

Lionpaw beams, his voice soaked with warmth. "Yes, Tigerstar," he reports with an enthusiastic dip of his head. "I've been training hard."

Tigerstar! The voice cuts through my heart. Tigerstar, the infamous cat of legend. Tigerstar, Firestar's old enemy. Tigerstar…Brambleclaw's son! Lionpaw, Hollypaw, and Jaypaw's kin!

I shiver. I know Tigerstar is dangerous, but Lionpaw is Tigerstar's kin. Maybe he just checks in on him sometimes, I console myself, forcing myself to stop shaking.

"You will be a great asset to your Clan," Tigerstar adds, with the warmth and kindness of a Queen addressing her kits. "And you will be recognized as a hero, Lionpaw. There is danger to come."

I prick my ears, straining to listen for more.

"A pack of animals, stronger than dogs and smart as cats are coming to the forest. They will threaten every Clan, and destroy the peace that has existed in the forest since the Great Journey."

My blood turns to ice, and I want to cry out, No! You're wrong. Nothing will happen to us! But my jaws feel frozen and my paws rooted to the soil.

"What do you mean?" Lionpaw asks, tipping his head curiously. "And how will I stop this?"

Tigerstar's amber eyes glow with ambition. "Even StarClan cannot forsee the coming of these creatures," the former ShadowClan leader adds. "They can only see great danger that lies ahead, with the fate of all Clans in the balance. But I can see the danger, Lionpaw, clearer than they can…it is danger that only a sharp mind with sharp claws—like you—can ever defeat."

Lionpaw looked frightened, his amber eyes sparkling with fear. "I ought to tell Firestar!" he hissed. "This danger…is it coming soon? Is it in the forest now?"

Tigerstar's eyes gleam. "The danger is coming," he mewed. "And if you fight it, you will be a hero."

"How will I fight it?" Lionpaw questioned. His muscles looked as tense as mine, bulging in the moonlight. "How, Tigerstar? Will the danger destroy us?"

"Not if you train with me, Lionpaw," Tigerstar answers silkily. "Not if you train as we have been training."

As we have been? I wondered, tilting my head to one side.

"Yes, Tigerstar," Lionpaw mewed. "

"It is close to Dawn, Lionpaw," Tigerstar adds, as calmly as if he were discussing the weather. "And it is time for you to return to your Clan."

"Farewell, Tigerstar!" Lionpaw calls, before vanishing into a puff of darkness. I close my eyes, feeling horrified. Darkness presses in on me, as terrifying as blindness, before the blackness is filled with amber light.

"Lilypaw, wake up!" Hollypaw's dark fur is pressed against my mouth, and her green eyes glow with amusement. "Confined to camp, eh? Helping Jaypaw?"

Terror still pulsed in my every hearbeat. "Y-yes…'morning, Hollypaw." I staggered to my paws.

"I'd best go now, anyways," Hollypaw added. "You're up really late. Have fun, anyways!" With a cheery flick of her tail, she vanished out of the den.

I stay where I am, my paws fixed to the mossy nest I stand on. In the corner of my mind, I realized that I had walked in Lionpaw's dream, and that I wasn't supposed to know anything. Danger is coming, I think. And it's going to be bad. But if I wasn't even supposed to know, what am I going to do?